Police offering $60K reward after 6-year-old girl killed in Washington, DC, shooting

Police are pleading for information after a 6-year-old girl was killed and five others were injured in a shooting late Friday night in Washington, D.C.

The shooting took place shortly after 11 p.m. in the neighborhood of Congress Heights, according to the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia.

Police heard gunfire at the 2900 block of Martin Luther King Jr., Avenue, Southeast, and rushed to the scene to find six victims injured: three male adults, two female adults and one child, Executive Assistant Chief Ashan M. Benedict said in a video statement on the shooting.

The victims had been standing on the sidewalk when a shooter went by in a car, according to MPD Chief Robert Contee.

The 6-year-old girl was shot dead at the scene, Benedict said. She was later identified by police as Nyiah Courtney.

The five adults were being treated at area hospitals Friday night with non-life-threatening injuries.

The circumstances behind the shooting are unknown and there are no suspects. It is believed the shooter was in a silver or grey four-door sedan, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser said during a press briefing Saturday evening.

"Our plea for Nyiah is that we find out who killed her," she said.

MPD shared footage of the shooting and an image of a car of interest, and police are asking for the public's help in identifying the suspects.

"I know there are many good people in this community that won't stand for senseless acts of violence, and together we will do whatever it takes to close this case in a swift and professional manner," Contee said.

"We know from past instances that the community can help us close cases by sharing information or simply reposting images, and we are hopeful you can do the same in this case," he later said.

A $60,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Nyiah's murder, Contee said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' Washington Field Division and the FBI Washington Field Office are contributing funds.

During Saturday's press briefing, a business owner in the neighborhood also offered to donate $5,000 to the reward.

Councilmember Trayon White, who represents the area where the shooting occurred, has been pushing for the District of Columbia to declare a state of emergency over gun violence.

"We foresaw this coming," he said during Saturday's press briefing. "We had over 13 shootings on MLK and Malcolm X in the last two years."

"This ain't nothing new," he continued. "This has been going on far too long, and it's on us to save us."

There have been 102 homicides in Washington, D.C., so far this year, according to police data. Homicides have been on the rise in D.C. since 2017, police data shows.